We are a people of Vision and we have a vision for everything we do or embark on. We have a vision of how our family would be, work would be, ministry would be and the list would go. Though some visions are what God reveal to us, we often make the mistake of hijacking your “neighbor’s” vision. We look over our shoulders and desire their calling than listen to what God has in store for us. This detours often leaves us angry, frustrated and always makes us wonder why doesn’t our dream bear any fruits. Paul has made it absolutely clear in 2 Timothy 4, that our life is a race that has to be prepared and run by you alone, you cant even outsource it.

I recently was meditating about this very subject because I have made my fair share of mistakes and I came across this scripture written by a minor prophet in the Bible. I believe my revelation will bless you and would help you make the necessary corrections that will help you be a World Shaker and a History Maker in our generation.

I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
Habakkuk 2:1-3

Position Yourself

#1, Prophet Habakkuk positions himself on the walkway to receive from God. This is no coincidence, he was in fact prepared or has been preparing to receive from God. Very often our daily noise overwhelms us so much that we often don’t pay attention to what God has been doing or saying to our situation or circumstances. We conclude, God has abandoned us because the silence is eerie. We need to quieten our hearts to receive from God. This is key.

Wait and See

#2, He had to “wait and see” what God had to say! This is so strange! Isn’t it supposed to be “wait and hear”??! Prophet Habakkuk has been preparing to receive a revelation or a vision from God. Vision comes from the Lord. We often chase after our dreams and aspiration which are not from Him. We claim our neighbour’s promises and work hard on our businesses and work. No wonder we struggle and strive so much! We often make a mistake of even modelling our lives on our idols hoping that if we follow that “blueprint” we too will get our fair share of the glory. This thinking is ungodly and it’s often what the world tells us to do. Please note, there is no harm in learning from other people but modelling or imitating after earthly men without God’s approval is sin and doesn’t glorify God.

So what am I trying to say, you have to wait on the Lord for the vision and He will give you a glimpse into your future and when you walk with Him , He will will elevate you and give you strategies. The Kingdom of God is not a kingdom of instant glory, it’s a kingdom of legacy so everything takes time.

Write it down

#3, when He gives you the vision you’ve got to write it down. God explains why, it is for the runner to come and pick it up and bring it up to God. What ever you wish to manifest in your life, you have translate it in the physical first. Wishful thinking has never changed the world but actions that followed did. You have to confess and write it down what God has impressed on your heart to manifest.

There are many mysteries in the Kingdom of God, one of them is the role of the runner. I believe every petition brought to God from man is through a carrier, it can be an angel or Jesus himself but never forget to write your Vision down.

Timing is everything

#4, Vision that He gives you is set for an appointed time. I was so confused by this, why does He have to wait to bring your Vision to pass?! I realised there are a couple of reasons, 1. God is not a genie, 2. He deals with you first in preparing you to inherit His blessings and 3. Every breakthrough can happen only if there is a crisis.

Here’s one fine example in the Old Testament, Joseph could have been easily the Prime Minister of Egypt on the day he was thrown into the pit by his brothers and sold to the slaves but God did not. Because if He did, there could be a high chance that Joseph could’ve have used his position of elevation to see revenge on his brothers but instead God had to work in him and through him for Joseph to see the fulfilment of his vision. And only when Pharaoh was in need of an interpreter of his dream that was followed by the famine in Egypt could Joseph be brought out. Till then he had to wait otherwise there was no reason for his brothers or Jacob to comes to Egypt!

You will not toil

Lastly #5, your vision will come to pass and it shall not tarry. The path to fulfilment is a long and lonely road and if you continue to set your eyes on Jesus, He will lead you every single day.

Vision is like the finishing line and it will not help you run the race. You got to call on the Author of your vision every single day and ask, “what is it that you have in mind for me today?”. It’s a lifestyle of total dependence on Him that will lead you to your goal and this will lead you to a life of fruitfulness. Tarrying happens when you run the race on your own and end up using the wrong strategies and end up taking constant detours.

You were brought on this earth for a purpose and God has called you to bring His vision to pass. A Vision that’ll change the world and make it a better place than the day you found it. Let’s make amends with God and ask, “what do you have in mind for me today?” and write it down and be prepared for what’s in store.

Its 2018 and a New Year! So why not talk about the first offering that was ever recorded in the Bible? Today, I wish to bring your attention to one aspect of the Offering that was given by Cain and Abel.

“Time passed. Cain brought an offering to GOD from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. GOD liked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn’t get his approval. Cain lost his temper and went into a sulk.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4:3-5‬ ‭MSG‬‬

We often treat Offering time in the church as a mundane routine and doing a favour for the church.

But to God it mean’s more than that. We often focus our attention on the amount and whether the church deserve your $10 in your wallet. This is a sad and a real truth and I am guilty of this very attitude. Cain and Abel put all they have into their farming and livestock, yet God was only pleased with Abel. Cain had to plow, seed, water, harvest, refine and much more but God did not respect Cain’s offering. As I was meditating recently on the above verse, God brought my attention to a line that showed the attention that Abel put in his giving. It says “…Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat….”. Not only did he offer the firstborn animals, he also put aside the choice cuts of meat. I imagine myself going to the butchery and spending hours inspecting and looking for the best cut of meat with the perfect marbeling. What I am saying here is, Abel’s preparation in his offering took time and was a deliberate rather than checking and fulfilling a part of his religious duties. God is not interested in your spare change, He is only interested in your heart.

As the book of Genesis doesn’t offer much into why God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice, the book of Hebrews offers us the answer;

“By an act of faith, Abel brought abetter sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:4‬ ‭MSG‬

It was Abel’s act of faith coupled with his giving that pleased God. Abel was believing for something during the Offering.

As we enter this 2018, lets not treat this New Year as another day. You might be even thinking, “I’ve seen this before. Don’t we go through this cycle every year?!”.

And that’s the folly that Cain make. He made an ordinary offering believing for nothing because he believed like the rest of the world that he makes his own luck with hard work.

Like Abel, let us not treat offering like another religious duty instead let us believe by faith that He is going to give us the breakthrough. 2018 is no ordinary year. I believe it is going to be a year if breakthroughs and fulfilling of the promises in our lives.

So the next time, when the offering bucket passes by remember, it is an opportunity for you to partner with God.

We often think Purpose in life is this overarching theme of your life. Themes like eradicating poverty, sending man to the moon or even make it big in the field music or in entertainment. Though these are true and the most noblest of desires but very often this isn’t how God operates.

Let me be honest I get frustrated with life and work from time to time. Occasional frustrations are understandable but what If you are living in this state of torment every single day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! There is only one reason and its simple, you are living someone else vision.

Out of the billions in the world God still wanted you to be born. I often wonder why would He do that?

Doesn’t He have around 7 billion of mankind who can accomplish His vision? Or is there something that He needs to be fulfilled in this world that only you can accomplish? I believe the latter to be so true. There are so many things in this world built by icons like Steve Jobs, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela but why are there only a few while the rest of the world end up being sidelined and being a part of the crowd?

God’s common grace is at work whether you are a Christian or not. People with singular focus achieve great things but with God you will not only do great things, you will also leave a legacy. A daily walk with God is key to knowing the purpose and goal for the day. When God made the heavens and the earth, each day He had a plan and a purpose. Though He could’ve easily done all of it simultaneously but God didn’t. Each day is a new day and for that new day, He had a brand new plan and this went on for every single day. The same is true for you daily.

Today, we live day in and day out mindlessly from brushing our teeth to going to work and back, I am guilty of it from time to time. But imagine this, you wake up in the morning and spend 30 minutes meditating and asking this one question, “Lord, what is your purpose and what do you want me to accomplish today?”. That one question alone will change the way you see your life. God answers those prayers and when He does, you are on to an adventure. You will see your environment change, favor from coworkers, open doors…etc. Even when you think nothing is happening, you can sense in your spirit something is brewing.

Purpose is not a single endeavour, its a daily assignment. Let’s assume, your calling in life is to solve world hunger. If that was your purpose, where would you begin? What would be your strategy, first steps, direction…etc? Before you know it, it would overwhelm you and you’d give up and miss out on the plan and destiny that God has for you. Every great endeavour started small because they had a daily commuion with God. They started cooking for people in need in their neighbourhood or started a small prayer group. There is great power in small beginnings. So don’t despise your small beginnings. I have a saying I’d rather have nothing and be at the center of His Will than have everything. I believe this to be true for any Christian.

You are here on this Earth on an assignment, why not spend some time with God in the Word and in prayer, 30 minutes of your morning daily isn’t much but it will be of profound impact. Like I said in my previous post, you are no mere mortal, you are powerful and let us finish this year right.

In 2013, I was at a business meeting introduced to them by my friend Sam. The customer started off the meeting saying that she understood that Sam and I attend the same church and how Sam is such an great Christian. I was intriguided and asked her which church does she go to? She replied saying that she’s not a Christian and she has attended our church once and found it fascinating. We carried on with the rest of the meeting and I left that place with a deep sense of conviction and question, what would my colleagues say about me? I have always been identified as a “good”, “nice”, “funny” and many other qualities but “Christian” wasn’t one of them.

Every weekend I hang out with other fellow believers in Church, small groups and extending that over to other fellowships. We speak the right tone, language and pepper in vocabulary with terms that only we understand. But once the weekend is done and over with, we are back in the real world with a few songs playing in our head till the weekend is back all over again. We sometimes yearn for Sunday to come so that we can have a sense of belonging and significance again.

What no one knows is the fact that we are totally different people during the week. Some of us dress, walk and talk differently that we are unrecognisable to our church buddies. We barely listen to Christian song or sermons and the thought of Jesus or God barely crosses our mind. We “remember” Him when trouble strikes but until then we cruise through life like the rest of the world. Our friends don’t even know whether we are even Christians but instead we are known to be the “nice ones”.

So why go to church if all we are going to do is nothing?

I know you and I go week in and week out to “meet” with the Creator but what happens after the “meeting”? Most of us give a clap-offering and we are on our way to engage the next 6 days as though nothing happened. If our life were a game, the world would be the field and the church the locker room where we rest and strategise. What we end up doing instead is chasing the world without implementing any of the strategies we discussed in the locker room. There is no drive or purpose that is God-focused.

What the point of the Good News when it’s not even shared at all? To put it in an alternative context, Good News should feel like as though your entire debt got waived off! or your cancer has gone into remission! You were brought back from our broken lives so that you and I can live a full life because Jesus paid a price and brought us back to our original place! So why aren’t we sharing this great exchange? Did our hearts grow cold or did we forget what we were before? (Phil 3:14, 2 Thes 2:14, 2 Tim 1:9)

Church is a place where we get equipped not only to heal ourselves but also also to bring that same healing to the rest of the community around us. We are accountable to our work, friends, neighborhood, and our family (Rom 14:12). The purpose of the Church is to instill us and equip us with the values and principles of the Kingdom so that we can reach out to the people that fall under our influence.

You are powerful and no mere mortal. He has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecc 3:11) so that you can heal the broken and be “Jesus” to the people in need. The world is a cruel place and when you enter into their “world” demons manifest and all ungodliness has to flee. Introducing them to the Creator Yahweh. We all carry a God vacuum and our goal is to point to Him.

It been 4 year’s since that meeting with and I still feel convicted. I pray that every morning when we wake up and are all set to conquer the day, that we ask God to reveal what is our Purpose for today. He will reveal to us and will give us the wisdom, the people and the words to say to heal the sick, raise the dead, reach out those who are abandoned, drive out demons and give away what you have in abundance. (Matt 10:8)

You are not just someone nice to be with! You are a change-maker and a history-maker because you are Powerful!

I saw this amazing deal of Lazada for the Intel Compute Stick and read a couple of reviews and felt it was safe and gave it a go. It arrived to my place in 2 days time. It carried a very familiar packaging. It reminded me of the Nokia packing when they carried the Lumia brand.

I am a huge fan of trying out new things and felt Intel had something truly innovative to offer. I have seen a fair share of how Android boxes and how terrible they work but for some reason with the recent product announcements from Intel I felt they were up to something.

Courtesy Yugatech

The unboxing experience was standard but I noticed there was a fair share of cables and powerplug connectors just in case you needed them. All you really need were these:

1. Intel Compute Stick

2. Micro-USB cable

3. Power Adapter

Booting up

Standard Windows 8.1 experience with the signing in to Outlook. It was a vanilla experience and I like that. I thank Intel for not tinkering the experience unlike some Android OEMs out there. (I am talking to you Samsung!)

Starting out

Initially I looked at my desktop and felt what is so different? I worked on it, installed Chrome. Updated my Windows 8.1 and still felt normal. Then I realised it was all being powered from a tiny stick!

What kind of sorcery is this?! This was a no holds bar fill blown Windows monster created by Intel. Insane!

Of course, common sense tells me it is definitely not for a power user who does video rendering but I can imagine running my office and business on it with ease. For crying out loud, it changed my LCD panel which was lying around into a freakin’ intelligent beast.

Ending well

I am now in the process of getting Windows 10 installed and I believe it should go well since the prerequisite for installing it is pretty low.

Overall, I am super impressed by this and I in fact raved about it to a couple of my friends. With the advent of Raspberry Pi and other new-gen-low powered computers, I do believe this where the future of consumer computing lies especially making it easily accessible, affordable and equally powerful.

Apple this September unveiled the all new iPhone 6S and 6s Plus. Every other year Apple is historically devoted in refining it previous year’s model. Not matter how much you hate the previous model and even if you have extensive research on why the previous iteration was bad, Apple doesn’t care and only will build on what it has previously build. This is so unlike what Samsung, LG or HTC would do. Competitors are so obsessed in winning over the market share that they do whatever the consumer tells them to do.

Apple sticking to their guns have huge benefits;

Design cost stays low

Manufacturing cost stays low

Material cost stays low as most the orders are done in bulk.

Huge profit margins

The innovation that Apple brings to the table are all under the hood and more pronounced at the software layer. As an early adopter, I recontacted my line to the iPhone 6S 128GB Space Grey.

Initial Impressions

The all new iPhone is exactly the same at first glance and its a tad heavier when you hold which add a certain “premium-ness” to the phone. It feels solid and well built all together. Unlike the competition, there are no gaps, no seam line or spacing at joints which helps feel as one single unit and not parts stitched together. Build quality is where Apple always has excelled in.

When you start using the phone, you don’t feel a speed bump as the new iPhone 6S comes with a new processor, ram and even a souped up graphics chip set. It was smooth and buttery throughout. It is in fact better that the previous iPhone 6 on iOS 9 because after the software upgrade I did notice lags and stuttering which is probably Apple’s subtle way of pushing you to upgrade. No matter how they tell you iOS 9 is lightweight and you can upgrade older iPhones is all marketing “bull”.

The new iOS 9 comes with a slew of iPhone 6S specific features and one of them is the all new re-branded “3D Touch”. Its definitely a whole new way of interacting with your phone. One of the aspects of that almost felt like a “right-click” alternative for iOS. There’s definitely a learning curve and using it helps you get to the point you wish to go without an extra interaction. The other aspect is using the keyboard like a track pad which I found was extremely useful. But to be honest, from a development standpoint, you can do all this at the software level than build a hardware specifically to capture this. You will definitely see how Android OEM’s are doing to respond in the coming months. So,is 3D Touch Useful? only time will tell. I definitely feel there is a lot more to 3D Touch that what they showcased.

The other upgrades were faster TouchID sensor, 12mp camera with Live Photos,
Gripes, Peek/Pop via 3D Touch, “back” button for multitasking and so on which all are a welcome addition.

Gripes

Using the Home button to wake up phone becomes problematic with the new faster TouchID as you wont even get enough time to read your notifications.

Camera Live Photos captures 1.5 second video after the shot which is predominantly a clip of you putting your phone down.

Because of 3D Touch now getting to uninstall or move your apps are difficult as it registers as a hard press instead of long press.

If you can peek and pop might as well tap and read websites or links. Why the extra step now.

Battery life remains the same which is less stellar especially for the iPhone 6S. Thankfully the new #BatterGate or #ProcessorGate didn’t mess with my unit. (Explained below)

Conclusion

Overall, iPhone 6S is a great phone and Apple still maintains the crown with easy to use OS, superior App Store and great experience. No body noticed that i had the latest and greatest unless you highlight the “S” stamp on the back or carried a Rose Gold edition of the iPhone. After the first few weeks, the new phone experience weans off and its back to normal business again. I did get a few questions on how the phone was and I explained to them what’s new but you may find yourself sounding silly when you try explaining it.

Recently, Gizmodo was all over Apple on iPhone 6S’s battery life as who made the processor will determine the battery life for your iPhone. It was either made by Samsung processor or TSMC. TSMC showed better and longer battery life according to show test results. (Thankfully I have the TSMC version). But Apple responded saying knew about this and has fine tuned the software in such a manner that it would give consistent performance regardless of who made them and Apple also explained why these “tests” did not reflect real-life usage and they were right as BGR has pointed out.

Has Apple ever admitted to doing any wrong, never. So I am not too concerned as Gizmodo has a history with Apple and they will do everything to beat their drums harder.

So is the new features all gimmick or is Steve’s reality-distortion still at work, I really don’t know. But I know this, if you are the patient kind long-suffering kind, hold out on this one and wait for iPhone 7.